LONDON, U.K. - After choosing Frankfurt as its post-Brexit EU hub, Goldman Sachs is now said to have informed a group of London-based investment bankers and traders to prepare for the move.

According to reports, after identifying the German financial hub as an important base of operations in Europe, the Wall Street bank has now told bankers that they could soon be relocated to Frankfurt.

Sources quoted in media reports noted that the bank’s move was unrelated to contingency planning around the U.K.’s departure from Europe.

They said that the move was part of a broader strategy by the company to place staff closer to clients in the region.

In November last year, reports revealed that the Wall Street giant was looking to shift around 40 senior bankers from the U.K. capital to other cities in Europe, including Milan, Frankfurt, Paris, Madrid and Stockholm.

At the time, Marc Nachmann, co-head of investment banking at Goldman Sachs, said, "What we're really trying to do is increase the number of clients we do business with."

On Wednesday, reports stated that over a dozen of the bank’s staff in London have been put on notice about a possible move to Frankfurt in the coming weeks and months.

Further, a Reuters report said that a decision to shift front-office personnel to major European cities coincides with efforts by investment banks to position their businesses inside the EU after Brexit.

The announcement comes at a time when financial services firms are anxiously awaiting details of the future trade agreement that U.K. policymakers are trying to negotiate with their counterparts in the EU.

However, so far, Britain's push to ensure a bespoke deal for London has failed to gain much traction in Brussels.